Lucky Colors: China x Reader
by Pulcinella
Summary: During a Chinese New Year party, a boy you've never seen before takes you to a very beautiful Chinatown.


_Lucky Colors: China x Reader_

You rubbed your face vigorously as streams of mascara ran down your cheeks. This resulted in a frown from your mother, who insisted on dressing you up like a doll.

"Oh, come on, I spent all that time on your beautiful makeup and _this _is how you repay me? Oh, well... At least wear the dress, will you?" It's the same every year, why doesn't she realize that? It was a tradition in your home to go to a Chinese New Year party every year, where all family, friends, and the like got together for a large celebration. This year was the year of the tiger, and, as always, you were looking forward to it. You hated the makeup and fancy dresses your mom attempted to make you wear, though, and found a way out of it every time.

"Ugh, no way." She held up the gown in question, a sickly orange color with thick, black stripes across the bodice. The worst of it all, though, was the fluffy tiger tail sprouting out the back. You took one look at it and sighed. "Let me guess, Mom. You made it yourself."

"Well, of course, I always do! I put a lot of work into them, too. Remember the year of the dragon? I spent hours on the wings alone, not to mention the tail and all those tiny scales. And what do I get? Nothing. You wouldn't even wear the damn thing. Now it's just hanging in the closet of shame, like every other New Year's dress you rejected..." Wonderful, she was trying to guilt trip you again. She always used the year of the dragon story, ever since the wretched excuse for a dress was made.

"Pleeeeease, Mom? You know I hate makeup and dresses! Why can't I just wear what I want?" Uh oh. You hated it when you became a typical teenager. Big huff from your mother.

"Fine, like every other dress before it, this one is going in the closet reserved _only _ for New Years gowns..."

"Great, thanks, Mom!" You came off as sarcastically chipper. Perfect, exactly what you were aiming for, just to tick her off. She grumbled in return, and you bounded out the door. Your mother grabbed her purse and reluctantly followed.

~Early time skip, aru. :3~

The two of you reached the grand ballroom that the party was held in every year, and, as always, a way-too-cheerful voice greeted your mom at the door.

"It's great that you could make it! Wow, your daughter is so grown up now! How've you been doing?" Your mother's loud cousin ended up whisking her away, like every year.

"Have fun, sweetheart!" She called out to you, as if it would be the final thing to ever say to you again.

"Yeah, thanks, mom." You moved into the crowd, attempting to find new people. There was always one or two newcomers every year, and figuring out who they were was the first thing you did. Eventually, you stumbled across a young man about your age. He stood near the wall, arms in the opposite sleeves of his traditional Chinese robe. He looked out on the party, his long, dark brown hair tied up in a low ponytail, which hung over his shoulder. His chocolate eyes turned towards yours when you approached, and he smiled.

"Nihao." Whoa. Most of your family was from Asian descent, but this kid seemed to be strait from China.

"Uh, hey." You hoped he could speak English, seeing as you didn't know any Mandarin. He took his arms out of his sleeves and started to subconsciously play with his hair.

"I'm Yao Wang. This is the first time I've gone to this specific party, though I celebrate the new year annually, aru. And you are?" Ok, so he could speak English. But with a name like Yao... You snapped back to reality and introduced yourself. He smiled sweetly and repeated your first name. "Very pretty name, aru. I like it." You blushed, and his hand emerged from his baggy red sleeves. Reaching out, his fingers slowly enveloped your palm, and he started to turn, still holding your hand. "Come on, let's go to the party!

"Yao?" You started. The two of you were in the center of the ballroom now, talking, laughing, and socializing with the other guests. He tilted his head as to acknowledge your question, and you continued. "Are you 100% Chinese? I mean, everyone else in this family is at least a little, but you seem more Asian than most." He smiled and nodded.

"Yes I am. I grew up in China, looking after my little brothers and sisters. They were kinda like my own children, aru. Every year, I would go out to look at the good luck lanterns, all the red and gold. It was really beautiful, aru." He seemed lost in his own little world, probably thinking about the lanterns, until a sudden realization struck him. "It's New Year's tonight! Maybe there'll be lanterns out!" You shook your head slowly.

"Well, it's not exactly China-" You slightly squeaked as he grasped your hand once again, and took off towards the door.

"I have vacation homes all over the globe, aru! There's gotta be a Chinatown around here somewhere!" You stumbled after him, he was running a little too fast for you. Suddenly his free hand came in contact with the school-style double doors, and they swung open. The cold air hit your skin, causing you to shiver. He stopped, and began to take off his robe. He draped it around your shoulders, and you looked up to see that he only had a red tank top and gold-colored pants. The Chinese colors of good luck.

"Yao... You look cold. Please, take your robe back." He glanced down at his remaining clothes, almost as if he had forgotten what he wore under the robe.

"No, you have it, aru. I'm fine, really." You were reluctant to let him be out in the cold without sleeves, but he obviously didn't care, so...

"Ok, if you insist." Your hands were completely obscured by the long, baggy sleeves, but you didn't mind. The robe was still very warm, and Yao insisted that you have it, so what was the point of _not _enjoying it? You looked back up, and he was facing away from you, but looking over his shoulder.

"Come on, let's try and find a Chinatown. They've got to be holding a lantern festival right about now, aru." You nodded and smiled, holding your arms up in a praying mantis style so the long sleeves drooped over your hands. He then smirked in return, and started walking the way he was facing. You followed, a small spring in your step, for some reason. Maybe the largeness of the robe made you feel like a little kid again.

"Hey, Yao?" He let out a 'hm?'. "How do you know if we're going in the right direction? We might end up getting lost..." He shook his head without turning it towards you, and you could see his ponytail swaying from side to side.

"Don't worry, aru. We won't get lost."

"But-" you began to object, but before you could finish, he stopped walking and turned. He placed a single finger on your lips, silently telling you to stop worrying. You couldn't argue with that. Once he was sure that you weren't going to let your nagging fear bother you, he began walking again. This time, you didn't bound after him, but instead slowly walked, your eyes wide and your mouth slightly open. Yeah. The robe made you a 7-year-old.

After walking for a while, he stopped abruptly and you, still in a small daze, bumped into him.

"Aah, s-sorry, Yao." Ooh, rough snap back to reality. That's gonna hurt in the morning. He turned and smiled, his chocolate brown eyes forgiving you.

"Look." You did as he instructed, glancing upward at a plethora of red and gold lanterns. They glowed in the moonlight, and drifted up towards the sky.

"Whoa..." It really was beautiful. So, this was Chinatown. How did he even find it in the first place? He reached back, and you felt his warm hand in yours. Yao grinned like a child, looking around the town as the two of you walked through the throngs of floating lights. He continued to lead you by the hand, and his pace quickened with each step. In no time, he was power walking, which for him would basically be jogging for you. You tried to keep up, the overhanging sleeve on your free hand swaying. Yao seemed really happy here, in his own little world. Suddenly he stopped, lurching you forward again. You looked up, and saw a small Chinese restaurant, lit up cheerfully bright. He led you inside, and you realized that you were, indeed, hungry. Walking up to the counter, he ordered something in rapid Chinese. The two of you found a booth and sat down.

"Y-Yao?" For some reason, you had been blushing since he stopped your worries with a single finger. He smiled.

"Hm?" Leaning forward slightly, he rested his elbows on the table, signaling that he was very interested in hearing your question.

"You seem very happy here. A-and you found it with such ease... Have you, have you been here before?" He shook his head, but decided to keep you guessing. "Uh, did you have a secret map?" He shook his head again. "A sixth sense?" Another shake. "An alien from space that dropped down from its magical sparkly UFO and whispered in your ear the location of every Chinatown in the world?" He just laughed.

"I'm pretty sure that's not it, aru." He let himself laugh for a bit, while you joined him. It really was an outrageous suggestion.

"Then, what did happen?"

"Keep guessing, and maybe you'll find out!" You sighed, but you weren't necessarily annoyed.

"Yao... Come on, just tell me! I'm not good at guessing."

"Fine, fine." He took a deep breath, almost as if contemplating if he should really tell you or not. Looks like he decided he should. Leaning across the table, he cupped a hand to your ear and whispered, "I built it." You started laughing again, thinking it was another joke, but he just sat and smiled.

"Haha, very funny, Yao. But seriously..." His eyes widened slightly and he leaned forwards again.

"No, that was the truth, aru." He looked so... Cute. You blushed even more than you had before, and fixed your eyes on the plate of dumplings that was traveling towards you. That must've been what he ordered. Your waiter set them down on the table, and Yao bowed slightly. "Xiexie." You reached for a pair of chopsticks, and fumbled with them, almost successfully picking up a dumpling before letting it fall back on the plate. Yao, who was just about to expertly put a dumpling in his mouth, looked over and saw your frustration. He lowered his chopsticks and stood, walking to the other side of the table. Sitting down next to you, he gently reached his arms over to yours, teaching your fingers and the chopsticks to work together. Your heart skipped a beat.

"Y-Yao," you began, but you couldn't figure out what to say after that. You looked up at his light brown eyes, which were soft, his lips slightly curling upwards. You focused back on the chopsticks, trying to make them work as well. Pretty soon, after he was confident that he had trained your hands correctly, he let you go. Unfortunately, confidence doesn't pick up dumplings. You tried everything he just taught you, but it just wasn't working. After dropping the dumpling for the fourth time, he laid his hand on yours, signaling for you to stop.

"It's ok. It takes years for foreigners to master it, aru." He smiled, lightly at first, but it grew, as did the blush on your cheeks. "Ai-ya! You're just so cute, aru!" He hugged you, and your cheeks became beet red.

"Th-thanks, I guess." You had never been called cute before, and you weren't quite sure how to react.

"Like a little panda~" Yao's voice was slightly muffled, his face buried in your hair. His ponytail hung over his shoulder, tickling your bright red cheek and causing you to let out a small giggle.

"A panda?" Pandas were indeed cute, but you weren't quite sure how you resembled them.

"Yeah, like a panda." He looked up. "I love pandas. They're so cute, and fluffy... And, pmrfmc..." He had gone back to mumbling now, and you didn't hear the last word.

"What?" You could see that his face was almost as red as yours, his ears lightly dusted with pink as well.

"I-I said perfect, aru. You're perfect." You never thought it was possible to blush more than you did now. Your face felt like it was going to burst into flames any second, and his seemed to mirror. Hiding his scarlet face behind his hands, you could see that he was extremely embarrassed.

"Y-y-you r-really think I-I'm perfect?" You stuttered so much it almost seemed as if you were going to explode. Yao peeked out between his fingers.

"Shì de, wǒ ài nǐ, yīnwèi nǐ kāishǐ duì wǒ shuōhuà, wǒ hěn bàoqiàn, rúguǒ wǒ ràng nǐ jué dé bú shūfú, ā lǔ," he chanted in rapid, rapid Chinese. You sat there like a deer caught in the headlights, before uttering a single word.

"What?" You didn't understand a word of it, and he nervously laughed.

"I'm sorry, aru. I-I said that I loved you since I saw you at the party, and I kinda feel like I'm making you uncomfortable, and you probably don't-" He got really nervous, until, of course, you committed grand theft kiss.* "Mm!" He let out a small mumble in surprise, but your eyes told him to relax. He did so, and melted into the kiss. You just rolled your eyes. Finally you broke away, and he stared at you lovingly. He stroked your hair and leaned his chin against the top of your head.

"Yao... We should get going..." He nodded, and the two of you stood. Calling over the waiter, he asked for a takeout carton. You packed up the leftovers, and made your way out of the restaurant, then the town.

~It's not over yet! Oh, also, time skip.~

"Where _were _you?!" Your mother was absolutely furious. You had neglected to mention your leave to her, and she was obviously very worried.

"M-me and my new," you cleared your throat, "_friend, _Yao, w-went to the local Chinatown..."

"_WHY?! _Jesus, you could have _at least_ told me! Ugh!" You were visibly intimidated, seeing as your mother could get really scary if up she wanted to.

"W-we wanted to see the lanterns..." You squeaked out. Tears sprouted from your eyes, but she didn't seem to soften. "Y-Yao..." You turned to where the Chinese boy stood, and hugged him, sinking deep into his chest. "Help me..." He held you up, and let you cry into him. After a bit of scolding (that you didn't hear a word of), she decided that it had been enough, and she needed some of the wine they had at the refreshments table. When the coast was clear, Yao lifted his head.

"You didn't listen to her, did you?" You smiled, your tears having subsided, but your eyes still red.

"Went in one ear, and right out the other."

**Author's Note:**

Hooray! My god, this one was so fun to write. I love, love, love how it turned out, too! Yay, fluff! Yay, China! :D Also, I've had red and gold on the brain, since it's my school's football team colors, and it's Homecoming. Soooo, I ate a Chinese good luck cookie today!

*Yes, I made a terrible joke. xD My dad has been playing a lot of Grand Theft Auto, and I couldn't get this outta my mind, so... Yeah...


End file.
